The growing demand for maternal and child health services and support, coupled with stagnant or shrinking resources, is causing state health departments to find creative ways to do more with less. Many states are leveraging home visiting programs as a convenient way to spread important information and strategies related to safe sleep practices, a key…
Turns out, size may not matter. Small rural hospitals in New York State are experiencing as much, if not more, success in implementing evidenced-based practices to improve maternity care practices as their bigger suburban and urban counterparts. United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia, NY, is one of 13 hospitals participating with NICHQ in the New…
Hosting a Department of Applied Research and Evaluation at NICHQ, we are huge proponents of evaluation. The reason is simple: projects may sound compelling and seem worthwhile, but it is hard to know if they actually achieve their goals without collecting data and conducting an evaluation. Evaluation data provides a window into whether, why and…
When a patient recently delivered her second baby at Harris Health System’s Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) Hospital in Houston, she was surrounded by a team dedicated to supporting her decision to breastfeed. The support, which began in the delivery room and continued after she returned home, made a difference. “She told us that her experience with…
Native Americans have rich traditions and beliefs that often conflict with Western healthcare culture. To address disparities in infant health in this vulnerable population, experts say public health and healthcare workers need to build relationships first, then offer advice second. “Everyone can play a role addressing infant mortality with Native communities. It’s unfair to assume…
5 Ways a Physician QI Team Leader Helps Foster Change More Quickly When Juliana Oppong delivered her baby, she didn’t have time to think about breastfeeding. Born very premature, Juliana’s daughter spent more than a month in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Too young to properly latch, Juliana thought formula was the only option—until…
You are nearing the end of an 18-month long learning collaborative in which your team made a lot of changes at your facility. You have new processes and renewed energy—and it shows in the data you are collecting. Now, in just a few weeks, the learning collaborative will officially end, along with the dedicated resources…
The growing trend of increasing capacity and timeliness of collecting surveillance data (such as birth and death records used by epidemiologists) is opening up opportunities for these rich data sources to be used for quality improvement (QI) efforts. In the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network to Reduce Infant Mortality (Infant Mortality CoIIN), states are working…
It is not exactly cold hard cash, but don’t poo poo it. Free diapers are enough of an incentive to encourage pregnant women to quit smoking and stay quit. Free diaper vouchers are a central component of the Baby & Me Tobacco Free program. The national smoking cessation program, which partners with local agencies, works…
A cross between a focus group and an improvement team, a patient and family advisory council (PFAC) is an effective way for a healthcare facility—be it a primary care practice or a hospital—to engage customers in improving the quality of care provided. The PFAC platform enables providers and patients to work side-by-side to discuss and…